LEARNING AND REPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOR

本研究的目的是探讨学习机制。 学习是基于过去的行为适应的一种重要形式 经验。英语学习心理学研究的基石 二十世纪一直假设学习机制是 在不同物种和不同情况下相似。例如，这一假设具有 为许多神经生物学研究提供了基础 学习的基础。受概括性假设的鼓舞， 对学习的研究一直局限于几个模型系统。在……里面 例如，大多数关于动物学习的行为研究对象是 受饥饿、口渴或恐惧的驱使。拟议中的研究将检验 从学习的角度考察学习机制的共性 反应系统、生殖行为明显不同。除了……之外 提供有关学习机制的一般性信息， 研究可能导致发现学习的适应性特化 并可提供有助于开发的信息 性功能障碍的动物模型。 因为实验需要控制和操纵性行为 历史学科，研究将用饲养的动物进行 特别是为了这个目的。日本鹌鹑，一种驯化的家禽 特别适合于性行为的实验室研究，将是 使用。 其中一组实验将致力于探索学习是如何 涉及由物种特异性刺激引起的性行为的 受羽毛等特点的影响。另一组实验 将致力于探索受试者如何才能适应 对任意刺激的性行为作出反应。在每组实验中， 性行为的不同组成部分将分别进行调查。 这项研究将解决以下类型的问题：男性如何 学会接近和接近雌性？是什么构成了女性的特征 在引诱交配行为方面有效吗？男性受试者如何学习 对男性和女性的歧视？条件化的上下文线索如何 会影响性行为吗？

The purpose of the proposed research is to investigate learning mechanisms. Learning is an important form of behavioral adaptation based on past experience. A cornerstone of psychological research on learning in the twentieth century has been the assumption that learning mechanisms are similar across species and situations. For example, this assumption has provided the foundation for much of the research on the neurobiological bases of learning. Encouraged by the assumption of generality, investigations of learning have been limited to a few model systems. In most behavioral research on animal learning, for example, the subjects are motivated by hunger or thirst, or by fear. The proposed research will test the generality of learning mechanisms by investigating learning in a markedly different response system, reproductive behavior. In addition to providing information about the generality of learning mechanisms, the research may lead to the discovery of adaptive specializations of learning and may provide information that will be useful in the development of animal models of sexual dysfunction. Because the experiments require controlling and manipulating the sexual history of the subjects, the research will be conducted with animals raised specifically for the purpose. Japanese quail, a domesticated poultry especially well suited to laboratory research on sexual behavior, will be used. One set of experiments will be devoted to exploring how learning is involved in sexual behavior elicited by species specific stimuli provided by plumage and other characteristics of quail. Another set of experiments will be devoted to exploring how the subjects can become conditioned to respond sexually to arbitrary stimuli. In each set of experiments, different components of sexual behavior will be investigated separately. The research will address the following types of questions: How do males learn to approach and remain near females? What makes features of females effective in eliciting copulatory behavior? How do male subjects learn to discriminate between males and females? How do conditioned contextual cues influence sexual behavior?